Materials Down As Dollar Rises Against Sterling -- Materials Roundup

Shares of commodities producers fell as the dollar rebounded against some currencies. Sterling fell sharply after the Bank of England kept interest rates steady.

A run-up in steel producer stocks in July may level off in August, according to one brokerage.

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"After an 18% rise in the carbon steel sector since [mid-June], we must flag the risks that seasonally August and September are often two weaker months of the year - and there are a number of reasons to suspect this could be the case again this year," said analysts at brokerage Credit Suisse, in a research note. "The least is that Chinese demand comps will get tougher in the second half of this year."

As part of a nearly two-year court dispute, a plaintiffs' law firm this week released hundreds of pages of Monsanto employee emails and company documents concerning glyphosate, a herbicide that has drawn new scrutiny over its alleged potential to cause cancer.